Discrete Power Transistors; Built-in Dolby Digital & DTS Decoding; On-Screen Display (via S-Video) w/Speaker Test Mode; Solid Above AVG Construction, all 31.1 lbs. worth; Extremely quiet @ REF Level while the DVD is paused; Extremely balanced AMPS, providing outstanding and solid, seamless DD-5.1 surround effects presentation (after 75 dB SPL Calibration using Video Essentials)

NONE - Programmed the Remote and it works fine!

This is in REFERENCE to my Review (below) where I mentioned that the RX-V995 was purchased from RegTagOutlet. My review generated some comments and quite a few emails wondering if:

1) I’m worried about getting Yamaha warranty because I got it through mail-order?

ANS: Yamaha is known for their reliability, so I'm not really worried about that!

2) That it might be an “B” good (refurbished or B class) or grey-marker unit?

ANS: It’s not!!! The RX-V995 I bought from RegTagOutlet (frequently buys inventory from failed businesses, overstock or closeout* inventory) came from *Amazon.com inventory. So what I got is the U.S. model not "B" refurbished (B Class) or grey-market unit, from, who knows where.

The Yamaha customer service representative talked to them in Jan. 1999 just before I bought the authorized mail-order model R-V905 [identical to RX-V595]) told me that if the unit has a multi-power selector switch - dead giveaway that it's the model for China, etc.

My R-V905 (purchased Feb. '99) is now @ my vacation house and like the R-V905 that it replaced, . . .RX-V995 has been on every day since I received it (2/21/00) and so far, . . . .no problems!!! J

I registered my RX-V995 @ the Yamaha website so if something happens, I will pursue warranty service. But, if that fails, my local authorized Yamaha service center charges a flat rate $75 + parts & labor, so I'm willing to take that chance since my total cost for the RX-V995 was $544.50!!!

Hope that answers your questions.

I’ve modified my ‘subtle’ difference to “noticeable” difference compared to my year old Yamaha R-V905. The RX-V995 Dolby Digital presentation is exceptional, with rock solid separation and dynamic impact with all the DVD program material (Out of Africa, Mystery Men, A Bug’s Life, etc.) I’ve viewed lately! I’m hearing more sparkle and detail that was there all the time but not as balanced or with crystal clear discrete impact and ambience. The RX-V995 handles all the encoded material smoothly and accurately, even more so than the R-V905! The more DVD’s I watch, the more impress I am with this unit! I can’t wait for my pre-order DVD copy of GalaxyQuest!!

Still rates 5+ stars!!!

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha R-V905/RX-V595; Technic's SA-TX30 & SH-AC300

Clarity, powerful amping, loads of digital and analog connections.

Like most everyone, I find the remote less than convenient to work with.

Bought the Onkyo TX-DS676 first because it offered great features for the money. Played with it for about a month but just couldn't get it to sound good. This unit also had a bad hissing problem so I just had to return it.

Went looking for a replacement and ran across the 995 in an open box clearance.

Set it up and WOW! This is one receiver that sounds clear and powerful. Played some Marsalis then ANTZ! for the kids then Saving Private Ryan in DTS. Completely blew away the Onkyo.

The remote is complicated and takes concentration to work with.

This receiver has a huge number of inputs - coax and optical - and the DSP capability is actually quite useful in replicating live performances.

Definitely a BUY at under $700!

I'll drop one star for the remote but hey, you won't regret this as a centerpiece for your HT!

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo TX-DS676

Discrete Power Transistors; Built-in Dolby Digital & DTS Decoding; On-Screen Display (via S-Video) w/Speaker Test Mode; Solid Above AVG Construction, all 31.1 lbs. worth; Extremely quiet @ REF Level while the DVD is paused; Extremely balanced AMPS, providing outstanding and solid, seamless DD-5.1 surround effects presentation (after 75 dB SPL Calibration using Video Essentials)

None - though some below think it would be the Remote - I don't!

I bought this monster Yamaha RX-V995 A/V Receiver (2nd from the Top Yamaha line) from RedTagOutlet.com for an unbelievable low-price of $529 (+ $15.50 S/H, no Tax) and I'm still pinching myself that I could get this Highly Rated Model (not a "B" goods or refurbished unit), "NEW" for this price.

RedTagOutlet's service and tracking system is excellent! This is the second product I purchased from them, and the experience was identical, complete satisfaction with substantial savings!

Ordered: 2-12-00 (Sat.)
Shipped: 2-14-00 (Mon.)
Delivered: 2-21-00 (Mon. 10:45am)

Hookup and understanding the features took a few minutes, but I was able to REF Calibrated the unit to my HT speakers within a half hour after powering on. I used Yamaha's Internal Test Tones for DPL, and Video Essentials DVD for Dolby Digital.

Hat's off to Yamaha, for the quality products within their product line. The year old Dolby Digital A/V Receiver, which is replaced by this new RX-V995 A/V Receiver, was another Yamaha product, . . .the budget priced Dolby Digital Yamaha RX-V905 (identical to the RX-V595).

My initial response was not how the RX-V995 dynamic impact, w/crystal clear, seamless surround effects sounded, but, . . . how close the R-V905 sounded, when I sampled my very familiar DD-5.1 DVD's (The Bug's Life; Mystery Men; Star Trek 1st Contact; Tomorrow Never Dies/SE).

The 3D-like separation, shimmering airy highs, seamless surround ambience and panning effects, were all there, like the very familiar R-V905. It reflects that the R-V905 to be an excellent, designed unit, following the Yamaha tradition, along with great performance vs. price!

Don't get me wrong, to the trained & untrained ear, the differences are there, and, ALL favoring the 2nd from the Top A/V Receiver in Yamaha's line, . . .but, . . .they were subtle! Subtle is the key word all right, then couple that with the refinement and smoothness associated with the higher priced Yamaha product, . . .and you'll get the picture that the Yamaha higher priced units reflects the justification for the higher price because of it's performance & features.

If you did a side-by-side comparison like I did, you would not regret the decision to purchase the budget model, if that's the one you choose. All the impact, dynamic presence is there, . . . but, if you had the money and choose the RX-V995, to a certain degree, it could be based on the better sound, subtle refinements and features. One thing is for sure, the difference is not like when you first compared the obvious startling improvement, coming from an DPL A/V Receiver to the wonderful world of 5.1 Dolby Digital! So again, hat's off to Yamaha!!

The Features that I really like in the RX-V995, that was not in the budget Yamaha R-V905/RX-V595;
1) Lighted (Red dot) Volume Knob Indicator
2) On-screen display
3) S-Video Inputs
4) More buttons (Unit & Remote)
5) More DSP modes

DTS??: Limited DVD's and $25 DTS CD Music, . . .uh, no thanks. But who knows, one day, they might be competitive in selection and price!??!

The Remote is functional, and can be intimidating. My main Remote is the All4One av Producer 8 (URC-8080) and most of the codes that operated my R-V905 works, . . .so the big Yamaha Remote is not an issue for me. Although, I do like the foldable door, and again, all the buttons! In time, I'll even "learn" some functions and create operational "macro's".

For a professional performance and feature evaluation review, see
1) Etown's June 15, 1999
"REVIEW / Yamaha RX-V995 audio/video receiver, $999 list) @
http://community.etown.com/buy/theater/avrec/articles/yamaharxv995lua.html

2) Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity
“Product Review - Yamaha RX-V995 DD/DTS Receiver - August, 1999”
http://www.sdinfo.com/volume_6_3/yamaha-rx-v995-receiver.html

Highly recommended - not just because of the lower price, but because of the consistent Yamaha high-quality throughout their product line with performance vs. price! Especially so, when you can get 47% off MSRP!!! :)

Value Rating: 5 stars
Overall Rating: 5 stars
(This review is also posted under "Receivers - Yamaha RX-V995)

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha R-V905/RX-V595; Technic's SA-TX30 & SH-AC300; Sony STR-DE515 & SH-AC300

Power, lot's of inputs, including s-video on all video inputs.
multi-room/source

no eight chanel input, main speakers only controll is he balance

great receiver over all, i would have kept the 795a if it wasn't for it not having more digital inputs and s-video in, other than that and power these are the main dife. betewn them

ok, the remote on both units suck, more the 995 than the 795a but, u didn't buy the receiver because of the remote.
yamaha has to cut somewere in order to give us the consumer a good entry level high end receiver at afordable prices. look at marantz a good product but a comparable yamaha costs a few hundred less why...maybe because they put a state of the art remote in theyr units.
So you pay for the remote not the receiver.
don't get me wrong theyr both good units but feture for feture on the receiver.. within the same price range yamaha get's my vote. by the way if you don't need the extra inputs stay with the 795a.

Similar Products Used:

kenwood ??,Kenwood 209, yamaha 795a

Excellent audio characteristics. Wonderful clarity, and musicality. Multiple digital optical inputs.

Okay, okay..... the remote bites.... but no worse than any others I saw under $2000.

ATTENTION FELLOW CANADIANS!!! There is no better value in the 995's price range. I'm running everything but the kitchen sink through this puppy (including Yamaha's 795 DVD, as well as an enhanced Bell ExpressVu satellite dish service feeding an SVideo signal)and it kicks ass accross the board. I researched and listened to a dozen or so comparable (when I say comparable, I mean in terms of Canadian prices)units and hands down the 995 wins. I narrowed my choice to the 995 and the Denon AVR 3300. Both had impressive audio characteristics (although I marginally preferred the Yamaha), and frankly the construction, control layout, and features were comparable.

The price (in Canada, at least) is NOT! You can pick up a Yamaha 995 for $1200 Canadian (roughly $800 US) in almost any electronics store. The Denon AVR 3300 sells for $1500 - $1600 Canadian. In the U.S., I have found them to be priced almost identically (and in most cases, the 3300 comes in a bit cheaper).

So why is Denon gouging Canadians? The price disparity is apparently due to Denon NOT having a Canadian subsidiary to distribute through.

The bottom line is that both are fine machines, but the 995 is a bargain, and the Denon is a rip-off in Canada given local pricing. Were both units $1200 Cdn I would still pick the 995, but it would be a horse-race at least.

Similar Products Used:

Denon AVR 3300

Solid design, power, DD, DTS, many inputs

Remote?

Back in the '80's I was a serious audio enthusiast, but when the industry started going audio/video I lost interest. Now that I have a DVD player, I feel that its matured enough for me to make my return. I bought the Yamaha R-5 receiver in 1986 (50W per channel) and I needed to upgrade to surround sound. So, I decided that since I got 14 good years out of my old Yamaha, I'd stick with the company.

I now have 100 watts into 5 channels, built in Dolby Digital, DTS, Pro Logic, all that good stuff, and lots of inputs for video, vcr, cd, everything. Plus, I can now control the volume with a remote! Yes I was a little behind the times.

I got it set up yesterday and everything sounds excellent. For speakers I only have a front L/R and a center, but later I'll add a subwoofer and rear surrounds. I watched Austin Powers II, The Matrix, and this morning I listened to a Pat Metheny disc, then Smashmouth. My old speakers sound stronger now.

The unit has many, many inputs, enough to satisfy most people, including myself. I'm using the digital input for my DVD player, it auto-detected Dolby Digital and Pro Logic fine so far. I haven't got any DTS discs yet, but one is on order so I haven't tested that yet. I haven't tested the FM/AM yet either, sorry :(

Don't listen to the reviewers who comment on the sound quality of the RX-V995 w/ respect to the highs, lows, etc. Virtually all solid state amps have flat response, you'll get much bigger differences in sound from changing speakers. As long as you have a solid amp that can provide the power and remain stable, you have what you need.

My system:

Receiver: Yamaha RX-V995
DVD: Sony DVP-S530D
CD: Denon (don't have info handy)
Speakers: (main) Polk Monitor 5jr
(center) Polk CS400
(surround) none yet
(subwoofer) none yet
Speaker Wire: plain old 18-gauge wire

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha R-5

Power, number of optical inputs, rec out zoning( this kicks ass). Overall functionality( simple), and cosmetics.

REMOTE!!!

Where do I begin. Lets start with bad stuff, the remote, although this is a MUTE point in my case, since I chose to go with the with the phillips pronto. But, that aside the remote is challenging at best. The constant opening and closing of thr door is annoying, also the inability of the remote to control the 795 yamaha DVD player w/ out programing is even more annoying, and last but least there is no way to manual change tuner stations unless they are already programmed. but, that is enough of the petty stuff, lets get to what really matters.

The two most outstanding features of the 995 are the overwhelming optical inputs for a unit of this price, and by far the best asset, THE OUTSTANDING RAW POWER. Wow, yamaha comes through again. When shopping around I compared this unit side by side with the Onkyo 777. Hands down the yamaha blew it away, although the onkyo seemed to my ears t o out perform the 995 a little in stereo mode. The yamaha was a little empty and stagnet, but not enough to really worry about. The real test was in DD and DTS modes. The salesperson demo'd both daylight in both encodings, and that is when I made up my mind. The 995 just took by breath away. Daylight (DTS) to me was never one of those must haves, but now I can honestly say get it, the soundtrack is impressive and full of excitement; the movie is still so so! I would recomend this unit to everyone. It is easily as impressive and sounds as equally as good as a reciever twice the price (Five stars)! Sadly I can only give it four stars on the overall rating, due to the remote, aside from that if you are planning to buy an after market remote, then it is a five!!!

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha 1105

Can someone tell me where I can find this Yamaha unit for the price of $799 or below like other people have said in this message board. Thanks!

HELP! Can anyone tell me where I can find the RX-V995 in the Philadelphia or South Jersey area for less than $899?

Kick ass power, has it wear it counts! All sorts of inputs, I don't think I will ever use them all.

Remote is tough to learn at first but a few times at the wheel and there is nothing to it.

Clean power, it's like music to the ears compared to some dirty old kenwood power.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood vr 307, easier to use and cheaper but no good unless you can't afford the more expensive units.